- August 26, 2011 - Insectarium : Champions of nature, Mission Monarch
In autumn, all the insects in Québec get ready for the cold season: they look for shelters, produce a sort of antifreeze in their bodies and then go into diapause. But do really all insects here act that way? No – not the monarch! Quite the opposite: the monarch gets busy, builds up reserves, and then sets off on a journey of more than 4,000 kilometers, heading south.
Migratory route
Our monarchs leave Québec towards the end of September. Along the way, thousands of individuals gather together on the sites best suited to a nighttime break.
Rest at road’s end
At a pace of about a hundred kilometers traveled each day at an average speed of 32 km/h, our monarchs, at the end of a roughly three-month journey, reach the mountains of central Mexico. There, at the heart of oyamel fir forests (Abies religiosa), temperatures are cool; the monarchs are protected from the elements; there is water nearby, and so on. In a word, the monarchs have everything they need. Which is why they can be found there by the millions, clustered on branches, covering the landscape in orange.
A recent discovery
It wasn’t all that long ago that biologists were still wondering what happened to monarchs during the winter. Only in 1975 did a Canadian researcher, Fred Urquhart, succeed in gathering all the information needed to conclude that this little insect, weighing barely half a gram, carries out one of the most impressive migrations in the animal world. During that time, starting in late October, Mexican farmers await the arrival of the souls of the departed in a festive atmosphere, souls coming to visit them in the form of beautiful butterflies with warmly colored wings.
Following in researchers’ footsteps
Professor Urquhart had thought up a clever method for making this discovery: with the help of volunteers, and over a period of more than 30 years, he attached a tiny label to the hind wings of hundreds of monarchs, who were then released into the wild. Monarchs afterwards found further south steered the direction of subsequent research. This monumental work would not have been possible without the contribution of the many volunteers who accompanied Urquhart. And to this day, citizen participation is essential for a better understanding of the monarch.
A threatened phenomenon
Habitat loss is currently threatening the population of monarchs migrating from eastern North America. Whether in the Mexican wintering locations, where trees are being felled, or in breeding areas, which are growing increasingly rare for the immediate benefit of humans, the monarch is losing ground and the population is growing more fragile. To take the measures necessary to its conservation, researchers need still more information about the insect and its migration.
The way to act
The Insectarium de Montréal’s Mission Monarch program allows us to experience an unforgettable moment of contact with nature while taking part in a community science program. With the program’s aim being to collect data on the range and abundance of monarchs and milkweed, information gathered on your monarch missions will make it possible to identify the monarch’s essential breeding grounds and thus allow for the introduction of effective conservation measures. A guaranteed boost for research into and conservation of this wonderful butterfly.
Join us and set off on a Mission for the monarch!
